Learning Topic 3, Activity 5

Project - Research Your School's Technology Budget

Chere Smith
Regis University
March 22, 2014

Find your schools technology budget. Does the budget come from the district on a per-

student basis or from your general school budget?

According to my schools Technology Specialist we have several sources of funding for our
school technology budget.

Mill Levy Bond Funds $125 per student

Schools put some funds in General Funds.

Money based on the number of students on Free or Reduced Lunch

It was not to clear to me how much of the school budget is put towards the use of

technology. I think the Principal, the Technology Specialist and the Treasurer decide on what is
available to put towards technology each year. This is then put toward the General Fund.
Who decides how it is spent? Do you have a technology committee or does one person decide
with the principals consent?
At my school, the Technology Specialist will make recommendations to the principal and
he has the final say. The Tech Specialist did note that he had worked in districts where he had
complete control over technology needs and where the principal was the only one that could
make technology decisions.
Does your school purchase databases individually, or do databases need to be a district
purchase?
Databases are purchased both individually and by the district. The district will purchase
programs that all schools use such as Photoshop and Windows. The school will budget for
databases they need specifically such as LandSchool or Kuta Software.
What is your schools most expensive database? What is the usage on this database?

The most important expensive database for the district is Microsoft Windows. Every DPS user,
students and employees, has access to windows.
What are your districts restrictions around blogs, Wikis, web pages, social networking sites,
video done by students, and video done by teachers? What are the legal
restrictions/requirements?
DPS has specific documentation on certain policies that must be followed when it comes to the
internet. Blogs and Wikis are not blocked by the district. The district uses Wikis with some of
its departments to provide information on upcoming events or what exactly the department does.
Social networking is prohibited due to concerns with phishing, viruses, and privacy. Staff can
use their user names and password to override the system, but the district can still monitor all
activity over its servers. The policy on internet usage states:
Denver Public Schools provides a wide-area network service that
connects district facilities to each other and to the Internet at large.
Access to the internet offers vast and unique resources to both
students and teachers. The District's goal in providing this service is
to promote educational opportunities to schools by facilitating
resource sharing, innovation, and communication. The Internet is an
electronic network connecting millions of computers and individuals
all over the world. It is coordinated through a complex association of
government agencies and regional and state networks. The smooth
operation of a network that provides both in-district and worldwide
access depends upon the proper conduct of each end-user. Users
must adhere to the guidelines of this policy in order to acquire and
maintain network access. Violation of any of the provisions of this
policy will result in: termination of access, denial of future access,
possible disciplinary action.
What are technology purchase guidelines your district has in place? Are you a Mac district or

PC district, or both?
DPS is both a PC and MAC windows platform district with a larger percentage of the district
using PCs. Some of the guidelines had to be updated due to the new PARCC assessments being
implemented next school year. The Budget Secretary uses the Purchasing Departments Tech
Planning Purchasing Calculator site and a few others when ordering technology for the school.
In general, schools should purchase technology in line with their technology plan. Schools can
work with the Purchasing department and also seek advice by contacting the DoTS Hotline.
Is your technology specialist a certified teacher? Is the specialist certified in technology or just
interested in it? Does a paraprofessional run your technology department? What jobspecific training or certification does that person have?
The technology specialist is not a certified teacher. He is a certified educational assistant who is
NCLB (No Child Left Behind) certified. Because he is not a certified teacher, the district is able
to pay him less. The technology specialist that was in my school before him was a certified
teacher who left the position to teach full time only. The current technology specialist has no
formal just on the job training. Some of his responsibilities include setting up staff computers
and student computer mobile or classroom labs, installing new software, troubleshooting
technology issues, contacting DoTs to come out to the school if necessary, and working with the
principal and treasurer on what technology needs the school has.
Who fixes technology problems in your building? Is a management system in place to
solve problems? Who gets first priority when a problem occurs? Do repairs come out
of grade level/department budgets?

Technology problems get fixed depending on what the problem is. There are district guidelines
on what the technology specialist can and cannot touch. The district contracts out through a
company named NetBuilders and generally any problems with motherboards or warranty issues
get fixed through them. If there is an issue with servers and network connections DoTs
(Department of Technology Services) will be called to the building. Issues with passwords,
maintenance (fans, power), and hard drives are handled by our building specialist. His rule is If

its warranty I dont touch it! Priority items depend on how many students will be affected by
this issues. If a computer lab is not allowing students to sign on, that would take precedence
over an individual teacher issue. The repairs are budgeted in with the General Building Fund.
Does your district have a technology plan? How old is it?
The district has a new technology plan due to the new PARCC and CMAS assessments. The
plan is a year old but cannot be accessed by teachers yet. The technology specialist was able to
share that the plan is a five year plan and it involves depreciation, meaning you cannot have PCs
in the building over a certain age. The old plan is still available on the district webpage until the
updated plan is added. The mission statement of the old plan is:
Inordertopreparestudentstosucceedinaglobal,hightech,informationrichsociety,
themissionoftheDPSInformationLiteracyandTechnologyPlanistoensurethatall
studentsandstaffareeffectiveusersoftools,ideasandinformationtomeetthegoals
andcontentstandardsoftheDenverPublicSchools.Allinstructionaleffortstomeetor
exceedtheDPSInformationLiteracyandTechnologyProficiencieswillbecompleted
inpartnershipbyclassroomteachers,mediaspecialists,technologyteachersand
buildingleaders.
What new information did you learn from reading the technology plan? What surprised you?
The technology plan that is available is quite long and has great detail. I am curious to see what
improvements they made with the more update plan. I learned that there are six guiding
strategies to help ensure success of the technology plan:
Integration of the DPS ILT Plan into the district's other major instructional reform
initiatives currently being implemented.
The full support and understanding of the Superintendent and the Educational leadership
of DPS (the Chief Academic Officer, the Assistant Superintendent for Research, Planning
and Special Projects, the four Area Superintendents and their Assistant Area
Superintendents and the Executive Director of Curriculum).

 The cross-departmental collaboration and ownership of the ILT plan at the district level to
create an "umbrella" support structure for schools.
Moving the definition and addressing of each school's ILT needs to a site based ILT plan
for each building that is revised on a yearly basis and linked to the school's Mill Levy
Technology and Library funding.
The creation of a DPS Information Literacy and Technology Proficiencies matrix
defining, by grade level for elementary schools and by grade level and subject area for
middle and high schools, the demonstrable skill sets that every student should possess.
The building of best practice methodologies for school-based collaborations around the
instructional integration of ILT proficiencies and focusing district-wide staff development
offerings on these needs.
There are also district, school, staff and students goals outlined in the plan. This interesting to
read and see where the district and how the new assessment might fit into some of these goals.
Resources: (hyperlinked)
DPS Bond Information:
DPS Website Guidelines:
DPS Internet Policies;
Tech Planning Purchasing Calculator site
Needs for PARCC assessment
DPS Technology Plan:
DPS Department of Technology Services